Time for me to review another middle grade tale here on SWB! This week I’m reviewing Laura Kirkpatrick’s Don’t Tell Him I’m A Mermaid. The second in her series following the Seabrooks, following on from …And Then I Turned Into A Mermaid which I reviewed earlier this year so without further ado on to the review…
Title: Don’t Tell Him I’m A Mermaid
Author: Laura Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Egmont
Publication Date: 30th April 2020
Format: Paperback
About The Book…
It’s not easy being half-mermaid. Just ask Molly Seabrook.
She sprouts a fish tail whenever she’s near water (NOT ideal when you live in a seaside town). She still has to deal with having the World’s Most Embarrassing Family. And she has to lie to everyone about her identity. Even her best friend, Ada.
Then the Waverley twins arrive in town. Molly’s thrilled to discover that they’re secret mermaids too! But Molly’s mom forbids her from seeing them…
Is something fishy going on?
What I Thought…
Don’t Tell Him I’m A Mermaid follows on relatively promptly after the end of …And Then I Turned Into A Mermaid. So a quick catch up for any of you that read the book a while ago; Molly Seabrook turns 13 and discovered she is from a family of mermaids and slightly inconveniently turns into a mermaid whenever she gets slightly too close to the water. As part of the agreement they have to be able to live on land they have to keep their mermaid identities secret from everybody. This caused a few problems between Molly and her best friend and then Felicity discovered Molly’s secret at the end of the last book. In this book we get more of Molly trying to combine living human life with her mermaid life, keeping her secret but also dealing with the general trials and tribulations of being a teenager. There’s an added sense of jeopardy as the Waverley Twins have arrived at school and Molly’s mum it’s really not very keen on them. Molly’s warned to stay away but we all know if there’s one thing that teenage girls do particularly well is the opposite of whatever their parents have told them they have to do…
One of the things I love most about this series from Laura Kirkpatrick is the way that it combines fantasy and contemporary genres into one book. There is a very obvious fantasy element there in that she is half mermaid and turns into a mermaid although we don’t see huge amounts of the mermaid world for reasons that are explained in the book. But what we also get is a very relatable teenage girl who is dealing with school and boys and friendship problems just like any other older middle grade reader might be starting to deal with. I think Laura combines these really successfully and with the humour that she builds in it makes for a really fun read.
I still really love all of the Seabrook sisters from the Serious studier Myla, to the prankster Margo, the goody 2 shoes that is Melissa and the crazy younger sister Minnie. I love that they’ve all got such strong individual personalities but at the same time you get the impression that they do genuinely care for each other. One of the things I loved especially about this story was the way that Molly, Ada and Eddie’s friendship developed and by the end of it definitely really clear bond between the three of them, I also really like little hints of character development we got from Felicity throughout the book. A final brief mention, without names, to a new character that popped up at the end of the story, it sets up a really interesting potential for future books!
Final Thoughts…
I’ve really enjoyed both of Laura’s mermaid books so far, I’m not sure what the plans are for this series in the future but from the ending of this book it seems there’s still an awful lot of story to tell. I for one I’m hoping we’ll get to read them I love the humour and some of the messaging that’s found in the books whether it’s the diverse characters or the environmental messages. It’s just a really lovely read so if there’s a third mermaid book I’m here for it.
More Laura Kirkpatrick on SWB
About The Author…
Laura Kirkpatrick also writes young adult fiction as Laura Steven. She is an author, journalist and screenwriter from the northernmost town in England. The Exact Opposite of Okay, her YA debut, was published by Egmont in March 2018.
As well as mentoring aspiring authors through schemes like Pitch Wars, Laura works for Mslexia, a non-profit organisation supporting women writers. She graduated with Distinction from her MA in Creative Writing in 2017, and her TV pilot Clickbait – a mockumentary about journalists at a viral news agency – was a finalist in British Comedy’s 2016 Sitcom Mission.
Connect With Laura
Website // Twitter // Instagram
Want To Buy It?
As always if you’ve read the book let me know what you thought! If you’ve not read it yet will my review convince you to pick it up?
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goldenbooksgirl
I really enjoyed this as well! I absolutely need there to be more after the ending, and you’re totally right about there being a lot left to explore if there are sequels x
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